Father of Dutch soccer dies

Rinus Michels, the architect of "total football" who coached the Dutch national side to the 1974 World Cup final and the 1988 European title, died today aged 77.

Michels was named coach of the century by soccer's world governing body FIFA in 1999.

Current national trainer Marco van Basten said he had been "the father of Dutch football".

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In 1974, Michels led a Dutch team built around Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens to the World Cup final where they lost 2-1 to hosts West Germany in Munich. Their brand of free-flowing "total" soccer won admiration around the world.

"Both as a player and as a trainer there is nobody who taught me as much as him. I will miss Rinus Michels," Cruyff said. "I always greatly admired his leadership."

Michels died in a Belgian hospital after undergoing heart surgery. Nicknamed "The General" and a man of few words, Michels famously compared soccer to war.

"The passing away of the grand old man of the training camp, the father of Dutch football, is an enormous loss for the football world," said Van Basten who played under Michels in the 1988 European Championship-winning side.

Michels was renowned for his no-nonsense coaching style at clubs including Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, FC Cologne and Bayer Leverkusen.

He won the 1971 European Cup with Ajax and the Spanish title with Barcelona in 1974.

Michels will be best remembered as the architect of "total football", a revolutionary concept in which every outfield player felt comfortable anywhere on the pitch.

"The sad loss of Rinus Michels fills FIFA and the whole football world with immense sadness. Rinus Michels carried the colours of the Netherlands to great heights by assembling the magical team led by Johan Cruyff that spawned the phrase 'total football'," FIFA President Sepp Blatter said.

Michels retained the bearing of a military man throughout his 27-year coaching career. He was stocky, kept his hair cropped short and had a square jaw. His manner was decisive, straightforward and down-to-earth.

Michels played 269 matches as a centre forward for Ajax in the 1940s and 1950s and won five caps for the Netherlands. He scored 121 goals in all.

After his army service he became a sports teacher before embarking on his career as a coach.

He started at Ajax in 1965 and by 1971 they were European champions for the first time, beating Panathinaikos of Greece in the final.

At the heart of that side was Cruyff, and after Michels left for Barcelona later in 1971 he returned to Amsterdam to sign the great forward for the Catalan club.

After further stints at Ajax and Barcelona, he moved to the Los Angeles Aztecs, then on to Cologne before finishing his club coaching career with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany in 1989.

He lived for soccer and even at an advanced age still went to matches.

He was born Marinus Hendrikus Jacobus Michels on February 9, 1928, in Amsterdam near the Olympic Stadium in the year of the Olympic Games there.

He started his career as a player for Ajax aged 18 against ADO of the Hague, scoring five times in a match which the Amsterdam club won 8-3.